From LiveScience:
An elusive Saharan cheetah recently came into the spotlight in Niger, Africa, where a hidden camera snapped photos of the ghostly cat, whose pale coat and emaciated appearance distinguish it from other cheetahs.
In one of the images the sleek, light-colored cat with small spots on its coat and a small head is turning in the direction of the camera, its eyes aglow.
Its appearance, and how the Saharan cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) is genetically related to other cheetahs is open to question, said John Newby, CEO of the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF), who is part of the team, along with SCF’s Thomas Rabeil and others, who captured the camera-trap snapshots between July ad August. What they know about this species comes from the few photos they’ve managed to capture.
“I think we were more happy than surprised when the images turned up, because we knew cheetahs were in the general area because we had seen their tracks on several occasions,” Newby said. “However, the area is so vast that picking up an animal as rare as this always entails a lot of luck and good judgment on where to place the cameras.”
The animal is so rare and elusive scientists aren’t sure how many even exist, though they estimate from the few observations they’ve made of the animal and tracks that fewer than 10 individuals call the vast desert of Termit and Tin Toumma in Niger home. Fewer than 200 cheetahs probably exist in the entire Sahara.
Losing this cheetah would also mean losing important genetic and biological diversity, as these animals have adaptations for survival in extreme desert conditions.
Their home can reach sizzling temperatures up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius), and is so parched no standing water exists. “They probably satisfy their water requirements through the moisture in their prey, and on having extremely effective physiological and behavioral adaptations,” Newby said.
In an effort to conserve water and stay out of the heat, the Saharan cheetah is even more nocturnal than other cheetahs.
Spotting these cats in the wild has been a challenge. “They are incredibly shy and elusive animals,” Newby said. In addition, they likely have broad home ranges since their prey – gazelles, hares, large birds and smaller rodents – are relatively scarce. Observations that have been made suggest they prefer caves and rock shelters as breeding dens.
Among the threats to the pale cat are scarcity of prey due to poaching and overuse, and conflicts with herders over stock harassment and killing of their animals, according to SCF. Apparently cheetah skins are prized as prayer rugs or used to make slippers.
“They are suspected of taking goats and even baby camels, and as a result are persecuted just like most other large predators,” Newby said. “Work underway with local nomads is putting together the true picture of livestock predation in an attempt to reduce the arbitrary slaughter of carnivores that has massively reduced populations of cheetah and striped hyenas.”
Newby and Rabeil say the camera-trap study will provide tangible evidence for the cheetah’s existence in the Termit area.
“The more we know about the animal the better we can conserve it, including pinpointing key areas for extra protection,” Newby said. “The cheetah’s presence adds weight to arguments for the entire zone’s protection as a nature reserve and strengthens our ability to raise support for conservation activities.”
The Saharan cheetah is listed as critically endangered on the 2009 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
This cheetah is really interesting.
Not only is the species devoid of genetic diversity, this particular subspecies has real low diversity.
It isn’t as bad off as the Asiatic cheetah, which now exists only in very small numbers in Iran.
But it’s still not that great. With only 200 individuals in the whole Sahara, it is unlikely that most populations of this subspecies are quite isolated.
But because cheetahs have survived a severe genetic bottleneck, they might be able to get away with some inbreeding– at least it appears that way now.
We probably wouldn’t have this photograph without a camera trap.
It’s just a a big Sahara, and with these cheetahs behaving nocturnally, it is unlikely that we’d see one.
what’s interesting is that it’s a subspecies at all. Until this article turned up in one of the science news sites, there appeared to be only “two” cheetahs – those in “Africa” and those in “Asia”. In fact, almost ALL documentaries pretty much portrayed cheetahs as ONE species (almost always the African. The Asiatic animals almost never make it to say, National Geographic channel). And almost always it’s repeated that the animals are closely related enough to be organ donors.
And yet here we are with a third type of cheetah. It’s hard to tell how pale these animals are with the photograph, but you can just see the spotting despite the poor lighting & exposure. So it’s hard to say just how much these differ from “average” African cheetahs. Are they simply a color variant like the “king” cheetah? Clearly a paler version would be better off in sandy (and thus a lighter color) background. I don’t know that that alone should “make” for a subspecies. There’s no discussion on the factors that made the determination for “subspecies” rather than just “color variant”.
And of course the usual “don’t cross the subspecies” isolationist attitudes will also come into play, which may only serve to even further isolate these cats from their relatives living in the savanah.
Peggy Richter.
That is amazing. It is pretty amazing that cats sleep more than any other animal. In fact, they sleep more than they are awake from my understanding. Can you imagine 115 degree tempratures and no water? That would cause them to sleep even more. I can’t imagine this species of cat existing another 100 years.